Assembly elections: Poonch district is likely to witness a tough contest on all seats; Dr. Udeshpaul to lead Yashpaul’s legacy; many youngsters to fight as independents

Assembly elections: Poonch district is likely to witness a tough contest on all seats; Dr. Udeshpaul to lead Yashpaul’s legacy; many youngsters to fight as independents

SALIL RAINA

(POONCH TODAY NEWS)

POONCH: As the battle lines have been drawn in the much-awaited assembly elections that are going to be held after a gap of ten years, the first assembly elections after the abrogation of temporary articles 370 and 35-A, Poonch district is all set for a tough contest on all the seats.

Traditionally, Poonch district remained a favorite for the National Conference for decades, but over the years, Congress and the PDP managed to announce their presence also. In the 2014 assembly elections, the PDP won the Poonch Haveli seat while Congress and NC got the Surankote and Mendhar seats. After the announcement of assembly elections in J&K, the India block has formed a pre-poll alliance and has announced to defeat the BJP by all means. Meanwhile, the BJP also seems to have chalked out a strategy to counter the India block. In the twin border districts of Poonch and Rajouri, the BJP is utilizing all its might and wants to win three to four seats from this region to increase its tally. After a long time, Poonch district is all set to witness a tough contest on all the seats. In Mendhar and Surankote tehsils, the contest is likely to be between the NC, PDP, and BJP. However, on the Poonch Haveli seat, maximum political heavyweights have announced to contest the election, and this makes the contest on Haveli seat a toughest one for all the contesting candidates. After the 1996 assembly election, the Poonch haveli seat was won by the Jan family three times, while this seat was won by Congress candidate Jahangir Mir during the 2007 by-election and by PDP candidate Shah Mohd Tantray in 2014. Now, the contest for the Poonch haveli seat is likely between the NC, PDP, BJP, Apni Party, and some more independents. As the Poonch district is known for maximum voter participation, all the contesting candidates have to work very hard to please the voters for themselves. The BJP is using all its might in the Poonch-Rajouri region, which never remained a positive region for the saffron brigade in terms of winning maximum seats. The BJP is expecting votes both from the Gujjar and Pahari communities because paharis have been granted ST status after four decades of struggle. It would be interesting to see whether the BJP would be able to achieve its target of winning maximum seats from the Poonch-Rajouri region or India block will perform better than the BJP.  Moreover, this is for the very first time in the history of assembly elections in the border district of Poonch that many young leaders have decided to take part in the election process by contesting as independents. The first name to announce its intention to contest came from the prominent political family of Late Yashpaul Sharma, who was not only a leader of the masses but also a former legislator. The late Yashpaul Sharma, who remained a powerful force in the Poonch-Rajouri region, remained a municipality president and also formed municipalities several times. Yashpaul fought many assembly elections and supported many people to power in various panchayats, municipalities, assemblies, and parliamentary elections. After he left for his ultimate journey, people were worried about who would take the legacy of Late Yashpaul Sharma forward. Putting all speculations to rest, Yashpaul’s younger son, Dr. Udeshpaul, has decided to carry forward the legacy of his father and decided to fight the assembly election as an independent candidate. It would be a tough task for junior Yashpaul, as he is a newcomer in politics.  He is likely to mention the contribution of his father before the public to get their support. In addition to Dr. Udeshpaul, many young leaders  have also decided to fight the assembly elections as independent candidates. Political observers believe that the emergence of young leaders on the political scene is also seen as a positive development in the Poonch-Rajouri region. On the one hand, it will help the people to massively participate in the election process with a likely increase in voter turnout, and on the other hand, people would have maximum options to choose among several candidates. These young candidates who have decided to fight as independents will definitely give some anxious moments to those candidates who are contesting on the party’s mandate. Although many young leaders are also fighting on the party’s mandate, like Ajaz Jan on the NCs mandate from Poonch Haveli constituency, Shahnawaz Choudhary on the Congress mandate from Surankote constituency, Nadeem Rafiq Khan and Shamim Ganai on the PDP mandate from Poonch Haveli and Mendhar constituencies. It is important to mention here that the assembly elections are being held after a long ten years, so everybody, from voters to leaders, is keen to participate in the election process with an aim to strengthen Indian democracy in the sensitive UT of J&K. Although, the Election Commissioner of India has also appealed to all the voters to participate in the election process wholeheartedly, it is likely that in both the  districts of Poonch and Rajouri, people will participate in large numbers, and it will make the contest among all the political parties and independents more interesting. The district administration is also making hectic efforts to ensure massive voter participation.